Duty Calls
by PunkyStarshine
Summary: Where has Paige McCullers gone? This is just a theory on where on earth Paige could have disappeared to after the episode "Hot Water". I do not own any of the characters in this show, and this story is based on nothing but my imagination.


Paige skidded her bike to a swift halt in her driveway and gently leaned it against the side of her house. She dug her phone out of her jacket pocket and checked her messages as she walked up the front path.

_Sorry again that I couldn't stay at the Brew. :(_

It's okay, I just miss spending alone time with you.

_This weekend, I promise._

Okay.

_Counting down the seconds until I can kiss you again. _

Paige felt her cheeks grow hot and a smile take over her face as she opened her front door, her eyes glued to her phone. Just to make sure she hadn't imagined it, she read the message again. She sometimes still couldn't believe it was true. She couldn't believe Emily was really hers.

"Paige, I'm glad you're home."

Her mother's voice snapped her back to reality. "Hi, mom." She looked back down at her phone and started typing out a response as she headed towards her room.

"Paige, I want to talk to you about something." Her tone was light, so Paige stopped walking and turned to face her mother's general direction, but didn't look up from her phone. She deleted what she had typed and started over, biting her lower lip in concentration.

"Your father found out last minute that he has to go out of town for a little while and I thought I would take some time off work and go with him, sort of make a vacation out of it."

Paige looked up and paid more attention, wondering where this was going.

"I don't want to keep you out of school, so I was thinking you could stay-"

"I can stay at Emily's." Paige interjected, silently cursing herself for sounding so eager.

"I was going to say with your uncle. It would be a bit more of a commute to school, but-"

Paige couldn't help herself, the words came pouring out of her, practically in one breath, "Emily's house is so much closer and I sleep on the floor when I'm there and Mrs. Fields is always checking on us and I just think it would be more practical."

Paige's eyes were wide and hopeful as she studied her mother's face. It was hesitant at first, but eventually faded to a soft smile. Paige knew she shouldn't be taking advantage of her mother's eagerness to prove she was accepting of her sexuality, but she missed spending time with Emily. Her girlfriend seemed to be spending even more time than usual with her friends lately, and when she wasn't, she was visiting her mom at the police station.

Paige's mother let out a little sigh and said, "Alright. I'll talk to Pam and if it's okay with her - and if she'll be around for the next few weeks - you can stay with Emily."

Paige let out a little squeal of excitement and threw her arms around her mother. "Thank you!"

"You better get packing; your father and I leave midday tomorrow, so you might want to bring your things to the Fields' house before school."

"On it!" Paige took the stairs to her bedroom two at a time and pulled the suitcase out of her closet so quickly that ten other things came down with it. _Pull yourself together, McCullers. _She bent down to pick up some of the fallen items and she heard her phone go off in her pocket. She jumped up again and realized she had never finished her text response to Emily. She pulled her phone out, smiling in anticipation. Just the _idea_ of Emily texting her still gave her butterflies.

When Paige looked down at her screen, she saw that the new message wasn't from Emily. It was from an unknown sender. She felt a lead weight drop in her chest. _Not again._ She unlocked her phone and read the message, her heart beating painfully fast. Fear and anger formed a tight ball in her throat, making it painful to swallow. She clenched her jaw and blinked back the tears that were threatening to form. Throwing her phone angrily on the bed, she went into the bathroom down the hall and clutched the sides of the sink, trying to regain her bearings. Her ears were ringing and her head was spinning and she didn't know if she wanted to cry or scream or laugh at the absolute absurdity of it all.

But doing any of those things wouldn't help. Paige knew what she had to do. She looked at herself in the mirror, locking eyes with herself, something she didn't even realized she had never done until she started doing it earlier this year. _You can do this. You _have_ to do this._

After splashing some cold water on her face, she closed her eyes, counted to ten, then headed back downstairs. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I could go with you and dad?"

Her mom looked surprised, "You-What?"

"I'm doing well enough in my classes, and I can have someone email me the assignments. We wouldn't be gone for too long, right?"

"It should only be a week or two, but are you sure you want to-"

"I'm sure." This time it wasn't out of excitement that Paige cut her mother off. She just wanted this conversation to be over.

"Is...everything okay with you and Emily?"

"I just thought it would be nice to get away. As a family." She mustered the warmest smile she could.

"Okay sweetie, I'm sure your father will love that. I'll call the school in the morning and let them know." Her face lit up a little and she gave Paige's shoulder a squeeze as she headed back into the kitchen. Paige let the forced smile fall off her face before heading back up to her room, the staircase feeling twice as long as it had five minutes ago.

When she got to her room, she stood in her doorway for a moment, glaring at the phone on her bed as if all this had been its fault. Stepping into her room, she slammed the door shut behind her and slouched onto her bed. Everything came washing over her and her hands shook as she picked up her phone. She didn't even realize she was crying until a tear splashed onto the screen, blurring part of her message to Emily, telling her she was going out of town for a while. She immediately shut off her phone, knowing her sweet, caring girlfriend would want to call and talk about it, but Paige wasn't ready. She would call her when she was past the city limits. She would call her when she was sure it was safe.

Lying down, Paige closed her eyes and pressed her palms over her eyes, as if she was trying to physically hold the tears in. But the tears kept spilling down her cheeks, the words of the anonymous text still spiraling through her head.

_"Leave, or the next sleepover Emily has will be with Maya. - A"_


End file.
